It’s a lesson in how to grasp opportunity with both hands — and tweet about it.

Alex Broad, a 20-year-old journalism student from Pickering, has become a media sensation for a Twitter account that documents the assortment of problems that organizers of the Sochi Olympics were having as the world arrived on their doorstep.

Broad’s Twitter handle @SochiProblems has garnered more than 338,000 followers in less than a week. The descriptive line defining the account holder is: “I’m a mess, and not prepared for you! Our athletes live like Kings! Sochi.”

Broad has tweeted pictures and re-tweeted journalists’ comments about brown water coming out of their sinks, a shortage of pillows, stories of doorknobs breaking and athletes breaking down bathroom doors to get out.

The account has become the go-to source for all things broken at Sochi.

The largest circulation newspaper in the United States, USA Today, referred to Broad as a “mad genius.”

“It’s funny, I never really considered myself mad or a genius,” Broad said. “I’m smart but I find it hilarious that doing this I’m deemed a ‘mad genius.’ I think I hit the idea at the right time.”

The Star spoke with Broad about his new-found fame and what impact it’s having on his life.

What year are you in?

I’m in my second year at Centennial College.

What are you studying?

I’m taking radio, newspaper, interviewing, magazines and pop culture, which is one of my extra classes.

When did you start the Twitter account?

I created the account on Tuesday when I was sitting in class and looking for breaking news stories for our online newspaper. I couldn’t find anything so I went on Twitter.

What did you see?

I saw a couple of pictures from journalists who were over in Sochi with pictures of their hotel rooms and I started laughing. The first thought that came to mind was that this was a Canadian problem. That morning I actually spilled a Timmy’s coffee on my plaid jacket, so I kind of started laughing and immediately thought this would be a Sochi problem in a way.

Then what happened?

A Right then and there I checked to see if the (@Sochiproblems) account was available to create and it was available. That’s how the account was born. This was last Tuesday. It’s pretty mind-boggling to think that so many people have followed it.

What was your intent?

At first, the idea came about as a joke, a kind of ‘this would be funny.’ It kind of came out as a parody.

It didn’t go smoothly at first?

I did make a mistake on one of the pictures. It wasn’t from Sochi. It was from a different time point, about a year ago. I got some notifications that this wasn’t from Sochi. Right then and there, I decided if I was going to make this account and especially being a journalist I should credit my sources and actually double and triple check that these are true facts that I’m going to be tweeting out. I grabbed the picture that was incorrect and tweeted it out again saying that this picture is incorrect.

Describe your wild week.

I’ve been talking to a lot of people all over the place. I was contacted by newspapers in the States such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal. It’s quite weird.

And now you’re an international sensation.

It’s kind of weird. Being in journalism, you’re always the one trying to get the story. You’re not the one who is the story. So it’s kind of done a 180 on me. It’s kind of weird and confusing. It’s taking a bit to get used to.

What were your expectations?

I only expected it would hit maybe 15 to 30 followers, just kind of a joking account that might grab the attention of a few, not a few hundred thousand.

What was your intent?

I kind of did it as a joke. Some people viewed it as a political statement. I’m kind of sitting here saying I made this as a joke. It’s weird in some ways because others viewed it with a different perspective.

You also have a YouTube channel?

I started doing that a couple of years ago. Something that I’ve always had a passion for is sports. I started making videos and kept on going. At the present time, I have been busy of late with school. Something that I would like to do for a profession is sports, either in sports journalism or sports broadcasting. YouTube is a great place to get noticed.

You have ranted on the Maple Leafs in your YouTube postings?

Yeah. I’ve been a Leafs fan for pretty much all my life. I rarely miss a game, so I’m very driven on them. I’ve learned to expand on everything, on different teams and analyze all that. I’ve been more into facts and stats to broaden my knowledge on the game myself.

What was the most surprising moment?

All the people that I knew who followed the account and they didn’t know it was me at the start. I was very secretive about it. When the story broke, everyone said, ‘That was you? . . . Noo’ They were in a shock.

Are you parents in journalism?

Neither are in journalism. Basically, my parents knew that I loved sports. They’ve been supportive and when I told them I wanted to do journalism, they said, go for it. They just wish for the best I can do, basically.

Tell me about your family’s reaction.

My parents and my sister were like, ‘No way, this isn’t happening.’ It’s one of those things that came out as a shock. At one point, my sister was more excited than I was. It was kind of funny.

What’s next for you?

I’m kind of up in the air at the present time. It’s kind of been a wild week, so I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to do with it.

What do your fellow students think?

They think it’s pretty cool. A lot are kind of taken aback. I don’t think anyone thought it was going to get this big.

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